Alaska

 

This is Andrew- for a project for my Family Life Merit Badge I am blogging about our trip to Alaska.  Here we are waiting for the bus in Denali. My dad brought 100 dollars to give away to kids when animals were  spotted.  Like $1 for an Eagle, $10 for a whale, $100 for a wolverine.  

                                                        Dad spotted a  Fox eating a mouse

 Caribou

Denali

 Bear walking through stream

Dad spotted a Wolf running which the bus driver said was very rare

 We all were trying to spot a beaver my brother won 

 Bode,Andrew,Marley,and Mack on a hike

 Dall sheep

 Golden Eagle

A herd of Caribou

 Mama Grizzly with two cubs

 Bull moose

 Cousins in front of my dad's old school

We got to feed seven baby Moose

My Dad spotted two Black Bears on the same road

 Seals on the ice

 Humpback fluking

Two Orcas
I spotted all the Orcas and whales so my aunt bought me a pair of  Alaska socks. I also earned lots of money.

 Me and Gus climbing on rocks

 Me, Bode, and Mack climbing on rocks

 Dane pretending to be a dog, which he did throughout the whole trip

 Easton throwing Dane in the air

 All of us in front of my dads old house

 Me playing with Rush

 A tree we planted to remember my Grandpa

 Me and Dane on a tire swing

 All the younger cousins looking at goldfish

 Baby Rush laughing

Cousins fighting with sticks

Summer Field Trips

This summer I had the kids on a weekly yard and housekeeping schedule so that we would be more available on Saturdays to go on Field Trips with Greg.  Our first adventure was to the Basque Museum in Boise.  I learned so much I didn't know about the Basque people.  The museum was fun and afterwards we found a tapas bar where the kids got to try a few different Basque foods.  They loved it.  Then we went to JUMP downtown.  It was a little disappointing because all the slides were closed but it was still cool to explore the building.  First field trip - success.

The little girls earned tickets to the fair from their Library reading so off we went.  They loved all the cool cakes.  Emily loved all the animals but Kate hated the smell.

We caught a cool animal show and they got to pet a hedge hog.

They shared cotton candy, lemonade, ice cream, got balloon animals and made their own bag of slime.  It was incredibly hot but they had a blast.

One Saturday trip was to the Woodgrain company picnic.  We enjoyed the banana pudding and soda and Emily entered the hula hoop contest.

Our last field trip before summer started was bowling, per Lily's request.  Watching her bowl was the best part!

This was her dragon assistant that would help her ball get some speed and stay straight.

Wouldn't be bowling without candy from the vending machines - "Thanks for the quarter Mack!"

Snippets

Here are some random events from the winter and spring:

I took a girls trip to New Mexico where I enjoyed good food and conversation for a weekend.  I loved being with my sisters, mom, and Keeley.

Pink Valentine's Day pancakes say I love you - especially when mom makes an E for Emily and Lily shows off her sign language skills.

Lily wanted on a heart in her hair for Valentine's Day - she wasn't very happy with it but she loved the K she insisted on for 'K' day.  That one pushed my creative skills.

Emily got to be on an after school basketball team - so fun.

For school Emily had to make a Leprechaun trap so Lily made one of her own (I guess Leprechauns like sprinkles). 

Lily spotted this unicorn horn headband while sitting in the cart at Wal-Mart.  She had to have it!  Three dollars of her birthday money was well worth it.  That horn rarely leaves her head and it creates a lot of attention in public.  

The other picture was taken while I was exercising in the garage one day.  She'd made me straighten her hair and she'd put on that hat - well she looked so grown up I had to take a picture.  It is bitter sweet to watch her grow up.

For Kate's 5th grade state project she did a report on Massachusetts.  She worked so hard each part of the project, especially the poster.  She even dressed up as Emily Dickinson for extra credit.

Hanging out with the cousins at Rachel's baptism.

One morning in March I was looking out my window and saw something strange in the lake.  By the time I figured out it was a river otter and ran in the house for my phone - it was gone.  I still can't believe there was an otter in our backyard but I'm pretty sure that was what I saw.  After that Lily and I camped out on the dock in the rain watching and waiting for it to come out of the brush with no luck.  It even inspired Andrew and Emily to go out in the kayaks after school.

Lily's lovely hammock.

I got a call in early May from one of Natali's friends saying that Natali had hurt her self at track and I needed to come quick.  This lovely ankle, courtesy of pole vaulting, sent us to quick care.  The doc said it was a sprain, told her to stay off it a few days and sent us on our way.  Three weeks on crutches and she still couldn't put any weight on it so we went to a specialist.  Diagnosis - severe sprain and 4 weeks in a boot- we were headed to Alaska in just under 4 weeks! We went the day before the trip and luckily he said she could try just using a brace, but Natali ending up using the boot a lot on the trip in order to hike and see everything.  That boot is hashed and we are glad she is walking again.  

Lily's preschool took at trip to Babby Farms and we took the play group girls with us - fun times.  See the Kangaroo?

Here is Natali being welcoming into National Honor Society just a few days after the sprain.  She also competed in the state solo completion sitting on a stool because of that ankle.  She placed 10th.  It was her first time competing in something like that.  I was so proud of her and loved hearing her beautiful voice.